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Welcome to my blog about family, faith, and our adventures with homeschooling!

Monthly Archives: November 2012

OK, for some strange reason WordPress won’t let me add a slideshow today. Anyway, we had a busy day today and covered tons of work! Our Bible lesson was on the Passover – the boys met our Passover lamb and named him “Woolly” (Max was very curious about our new “pet”) :). We watched a video about how the Israelites were to take an unblemeished, one year old, male lamb into their homes and care for it for 4 days before sacrificing it, spreading its blood on their doorframes, and eating the meat as part of a special meal. We talked about how attached we can become to animals and how it would be hard to kill an innocent lamb. Then we discussed how Jesus came as the “Lamb of God”, lived a sinless life, and sacrificed His life to cover our sins and make a way for us to have a personall relationship with God. We will celebrate Passover in the spring, but needed to talk about it since it was an important part of the last plague and the beginning of the exodus into the promised land.

Brendan did awesome on his Science test (good job B :)) and Ryan performed a neat experiment using boiled red cabbage water as to test the ph of acids and bases – very cool! We also worked on math, writing, grammar, art, music, and reading. For art, I had the kids read a few pages from God and the History of Art and told them to “highlight the important parts”. I saw Ryan’s paper and said, “oh, cool, you colored the cross!” and he said “well, you told me to highlight the important parts and Jesus dying on the cross is important!” – LOVE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This was a devotion that I read today and I just had to share it with everyone! It talks about how we often make excuses or don’t feel adequate when God calls us to something (ach hemm…homeschooling…me?..really??…seriously???…but, I’m not “trained” to teach…but, I don’t have the patience…but __________, but ___________ , but____________…). Not everybody is “called” to homeschool and that is OK. God has different plans for each one of us – thank goodness…the world would be a boring place if we were all the same! But remember, that God has a special plan for you…”plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”(Jeremiah 29:11). Be open to God, obey when He leads, and get ready for an adventure!

As for God’s plan for my life – I am so grateful that God continued to work on my stubborn heart and gave me the courage to step out in faith by bringing my kids home! He has provided help, equipped me with the “right” curriculum for our family, given me strength, encouraged me through family and friends, taught me more about myself and my walk with Him, and blessed me more than I could have ever fathomed! I will be forever thankful for this amazing journey!

“Moses was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in both speech and action.” Acts 7:22 (NLT)Have you ever tried to hide from God’s call on your life?Moses did. He fled to the wilderness to get away. The hillside was a comfortable place; one that allowed him to live in obscurity. But God approached Moses as he tended sheep.When God asked Moses to speak to Pharaoh on His behalf, Moses balked. He felt inadequate. He lifted up his weakness to God and submitted it as an excuse not to do as God asked. “My words get tangled,”he said. (Exodus 4:10b NLT)Yet years later in Acts 7:22, we find that Stephen described Moses as powerful in both speech and action.How could this be? Did he truly struggle with his words, or was it an excuse?As an Egyptian citizen and adopted member of the royal family, Moses had access to the finest education. As a young man he rose to the rank of prime minister, a task that required him to communicate with others. But Moses is believed to have had a true speech impediment.He struggled to get the words out.So when God approached Moses to join in an adventure to free His people from slavery, all Moses could think about was his weakness.When Stephen described Moses, hundreds of years later, he had the advantage of seeing Moses’ life span. He had heard of every act of courage and victory. Even in death, the name of Moses was revered among the nation of Israel.Stephen knew when Moses spoke, though he may have stammered, his words carried weight.The words Moses spoke were described as “life giving.” (Acts 7:38 NLT) Moses’ words mended arguments, offered justice, negotiated freedom and dispensed wisdom.

Only in hindsight do we see what Moses could not see in the beginning. God wasn’t worried about Moses’ lack of eloquence, vocabulary or skill, but whether or not Moses trusted God enough to obey.

Where Moses was deficient, God would be sufficient.

Where Moses struggled, God would succeed.

Where Moses was weak, God would be strong.

How many times does God invite us to follow Him into an adventure? Whether it is to be a great mom, or to lead a Bible study, or do anything outside our comfort zone, do we hold up our weaknesses and say, “Sorry, God, I can’t,” and then point out our weaknesses to Him.

In these instances, “My words get tangled” translates to:

I’m not patient, God, so don’t ask me to be a good mom.

I don’t like to be in the spotlight, God, so let someone else lead that study.

I’m afraid, God, so don’t ask me to [fill in the blank].

When we look past our “tangled words” to His equipping, we find our answer.

What is God asking you to do? Have you been responding with your own version of, “My words get tangled”?

Are you willing to step out in obedience today?

Like Moses, only with hindsight will you one day see how your obedience shaped a child, or a neighbor or a nation.

Or you.

What do you stand to gain as you take the focus off your deficiency to trust in His sufficiency?

Dear Lord, You know my very real weakness. But I am excited to respond to Your voice today. With You all things are possible, so I step out in faith beginning today. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Reflect and Respond: Abraham was old; Timothy was timid; Jacob was insecure; Peter was impulsive; and Moses had a speech impediment, yet God used each of these people in such a way that their names are etched in history.

Add your name to the list above: I am _______________, but with God all things are possible (Mark 10:27).

Power Verses: Exodus 4:10, “Moses said to the Lord, ‘Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.'” (NIV)

Exodus 4:11-12, “The Lord said to him, ‘Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.'” (NIV)

Today we “experienced” the plague of the boils. I had always pictured boils as small bumps or pimples until the last year or so. Justin (my poor husband) has had a few boils and they are NOT fun! They are big, red, and very painful! I can’t imagine what it would have been like to have boils all over my body – OUCH! I have a much better perspective now, and so do the kids after seeing their dad suffer with boils in the past. We also read about the plague of lightning and hail – if I wasn’t fighting a cold and felt better, I would’ve pelted the kids with ice cubes, but I didn’t feel like cleaning up little puddles of water today, so they lucked out this time 🙂 !

Our new Greek word of the week is phone which means sound and the next commandment is you shall not steal. Ryan had a few science experiments dealing with vinegar, salt, and chemical reactions. His seeds from last week are growing well! We started a new read aloud by Patricia St. John called Treasures of the Snow this morning. The story started off talking about Christmas and how Jesus was born in a stable, which is perfect because we will be focusing on the real meaning of Christmas and the Advent season over the next few weeks. We also spent some time working on our projects, covered spelling, reading, grammar, music, art, and math.